Pours a dark, ruby-tinged brown with a thin ring of off-white bubbles. Strong aroma of cinnamon and cocoa, with a hint of chile -- but really strong on the cinnamon. The Mexican chocolate combination of cinnamon and cocoa comes through strongly, followed by the sweet burn of chiles.

Despite the heavy flavor constituents and high ABV, this is a pretty light, easy drinking brew -- it actually leaves me wishing it drank a bit more like thick Mexican hot chocolate, but it's still delicious and enjoyable. (507 characters)

22oz bottle poured into my CBS snifter. It poured dark brown in color with a thin, bubbly head to it. Decent lacing as I drank it.

The Cinnamon is the first thing I notice in the aroma. I get some of the spicy peppers, but isn't really in your face peppery. A good amount of malty, caramel, brown sugar flavors help keep it pretty smooth. Just a hint of chocolate is there. Pretty nice aroma to it, it's very flavorful but everything comes together well.

The taste shows more of the cinnamon spice and malty sweetness to it up front. The finish is where the spicy peppers really start to come out. The peppers bring a little heat to them, but not an overpowering hotness. The flavor profile really compliments the peppers well and it feels pretty smooth for a pepper beer.

The mouthfeel is medium bodied with carbonation being moderate. Overall I thought it was a very good beer, they really managed to bring all the flavors together in it. I don't typically think peppers work that well in beer, but in this one they did. A lot of bold flavors and ingredients in it, but they came together very well. I really liked the uniqueness to it as well. Very well done beer overall. (1,181 characters)

Full taste with lots of cocoa and pleasant, but not overbearing chile. Relatively light-bodied, but not watery. Not super rich, but lots of flavor without being too thick. Really fantastic-- on the same par with New Holland Mole Ocho, but in a different way. In fairness, it's a bit like powdered hot chocolate with cayenne, but in the best possible way, I promise.

Pretty standard, relatively bright, but not exceptional.

This is awesome and would pair well with pork, barbecue, etc. I may have to pick up some more of this... (731 characters)

Pours a cherry hued brown with little foam formation and no lace. The nose on this beer is insane, probably in my top five noses. cinnamon, cocoa, chili, sugar, coffee (just the slightest), grain, malt; these come together and honestly remind me of cinnamon toast crunch cereal - fucking awesome. Great cinnamon and cereal flavor with a good sharp burn at the rear of the palate. Really dig this beer. I'm worried about it's aging potential, so I'm drinking the shit out of it while I can. Medium bodied with prickly carb and an off dry finish. Really hope this becomes an annual release, they really hit it out of the park here. (697 characters)

A: SRM is brown/light brown. Translucent. Head is tan, 1.5-2 in, puffy, dissipates to line the top of the beer. Heavy/medium carbonation. Medium lacing.

S: Big coaco, chile, and spice notes. Not much hop.

T: Follows nose, with earthy/natural chile and spices, a touch of heat. Nice malt profile, which is just enough to balance the ingredients. Aftertaste is spice, coaco, and a bit of heat.

M: Medium body. Ingredients lend a lot of additional body to this beer. At it's base, it is a medium/light body brown, but the sheer force of coaco, chile, and spices take this beer up to the next level. Wet finish.

O: Quite interesting. Mosdef a winner. Awesome use of ingredients and the execution matched/exceeded the planning. Fantastic depth of flavor. Definitely a buy while it is still on shelves. (839 characters)

T: chocolate, cinnamon. ancho chilies. a lot of malt must have been used to provide some kind of backbone for all of these spices, however, because of all these spices i cant really spicy finish.

M: mild/average amount of carbonation. medium/full body.

D: this is a very unique brew, however this one isnt for me. chilies and chocolate make for a lot of flavor that is a too much for me. glad i tried, but on to the next LOF for this guy. (757 characters)

Thanks to Thorpette for grabbing this bottle from Rick's in Alexandria. Served in a SAVOR wine glass because my New Belgium globe goblet is packed. I'm glad I'll only be pulling these shenanigans for a few more days.

A: Pours a just-barely transparent dark brown color with a thin off-white head that fades pretty quickly into a collar with some small bubbles. Just a few spots of lacing on the sides of the glass.

S: The nose brings forward a pretty good dose of cinnamon and chocolate with a touch of spice in the background. The chile peppers are noticed, but in the background. The cinnamon an cocoa blend is quite nice.

T: What I just said about the chiles being in the background changes completely in the flavor, when they are front and center, which is unfortunate, as they really drown out the other aspects of the beer.

M: Light-medium body with good carbonation and quite a bit of lingering spice. The heat isn't overbearing at all, but it is disproportionate to the other characteristics of the beer.

O: Not a bad beer by any means, but I think this would have been much better as a chocolate and spice beer with a bit of chile pepper rather than a beer that ends up focusing far too heavily on the chile. (1,222 characters)

T: An initial cinnamon kick with a wash of chocolate. The heat from the chilies builds gradually and then suddenly dissipates, leaving behind a chocolate stout aftertaste.

M: Medium bodied, characteristic of a brown ale.

O: The creativity works for this one. This is what I had expected from Dogfish Head's Theobroma. Where Dogfish Head approximated a recipe analyzed from clay pots, New Belgium instead delivered what may have been the common ideal of a beer brewed with cocoa, chillies, and other assorted spices. Nicely done; certainly worth revisiting. (631 characters)

A - Dark brown with some reddish highlights. Minimal head quickly fades leaving sparse lacing. S - Strong aromas of cinnamon and chiles with some dark fruit and a hint of chocolate. T - Flavors of cinnamon and other spices. Nice chile flavor throughout which lingers. Minimal hops presence. M - A little thin with a generous carbonation. A nice smelling and tasting beer. Perhaps more body and less carbonation. Definitely recommend. (433 characters)

A: Cola colored with a light tan head, about an inch that fades to a small cap leaving behind some nice small clumps of lacing. Completely transparent, no haze at all. Nice looking beer.

S: Lots of chocolate and cinnamon, reminds me of that Nestle Abuelita drink we could get in the dorms in college. Some bakers chocolate and a touch of spicy chile peppers. Not bad.

T: Awesome flavors all the way around, chocolate, cinnamon and just a bit of chipotle smoke/ancho chiles. Chile flavors linger on the tongue for a long time. Really a nice, not overly vegetal pepper flavor. Definitely on the sweet side of the spectrum, but the spice and little bit of chile heat make this incredibly tasty.

M: Thin in the body, medium carbonation, and warming from both the 9% and from the chili peppers in here.

The pour is almost mahogany in color with a khaki colored head. A really enjoyable spice aroma. Lots of cinnamon and peppers (though to a lesser degree). The chocolate is pronounced and gives a nice sweetness. Some serious raisin and plum character, too. Pleasantly sweet in terms of the flavor. Lots of chocolate and fruit notes with a sweet bready quality. Good spice and pepper flavor with a subtle earthiness. Really well done all around. (477 characters)

I've got to say, I really wish New Belgium would return to bottle-conditioning La Folie!

That out of the way, Cocoa Mole is a great addition to the Lips of Faith series. Dark brown with minimal head and a medium to thin body, it presents an actually drinkable dark beer. Clocking in at 9% alcohol, it's a surprisingly big brew compared to the feel of it on the palate. Further, it's downright drinkable. Half a bomber went down easy as a dessert beer.

It could also be paired with chocolates for more decadence. The aroma is primarily dark Mexican chocolate (stone-ground for true classiness), and the taste leads with that while the mole spice hits in the back of the palate and the finish. Leaves you wanting more, leaves you warm, covers the alcohol, and is balanced enough that it's not overly powerful and not underwhelming.

It basically does everything right. I'd put this one up there with Eric's Ale and Le Terroir as a healthy and fun surprise from New Belgium in their Lips of Faith series of releases. I'll be picking up more before they're gone! (1,060 characters)

Spotted this at the local Whole Foods and couldn't resist picking up a bottle!

A: Pours a deep burgundy, topped an off white head that seemed rather quick to dissipate.

S: A beautiful chocolate scent and the full-on aromatic bouquet of what must be the selection of peppers. The bottle describes a scent of cinnamon, and I suppose that would be notable. It's a fantastic scent, either way.

T: The flavour is very similar to the aroma... a complex spiciness, blended beautifully with a creamy chocolate taste, with an added touch of vanilla. Very nice balance, and a nice little bite with the spicy burn on the finish.... just right.

M + D: This is a delicious beer, with a very fine-tuned balance that makes it a pleasure to drink. The body has a smooth creaminess that complements the flavours quite nicely, and the spicy finish rounds that out very well. This is certainly a beer I will be returning to. (912 characters)

A really wonderful beer. I'm not a huge fan of chile beers since so many of them are unbalanced, with heat and not much else. This one is dubbed as a mole, and I have to say, it truly does taste like a mole. You get a nicely balanced melange of flavors, with some nice ancho chile, cinnamon, chocolate, vanilla, and some black pepper, along with some moderate malty sweetness. The nose is more cinnamon and chile with a hint of sweetness. The spice level is just right- to start with, it's a warming roasty heat, rather than a sharp, biting spice. Using the right kind of chiles helps. Here there are ancho, guajillo, and chipotle, so you get a warm, fruity, smokiness with moderate heat, not the sort of bright fruity heat of habaneros or the sharp herbalness and spice if jalapenos or birds eyes. The rounded fruitiness and roasty notes here blend very well with the other flavors and presents a lovely, integrated whole with the heat slowly building to a pleasant tingling, and the spice and vanilla notes echoing in the background after the base has been built by the chocolate and malt. The best Lips of Faith offering I've had in a while. Very nice indeed. (1,162 characters)

This beer defiantly smells strange, though, I don't think it's bad. I defiantly get this sweet sorta cocoa aroma coming off of it, but I also get something that I can only describe as "meaty" as well. Overall the beer's aroma is sweet, the meatiness comes from the chillies, I'm sure.

Cocoa Mole pours a really deep rusty brown color with red highlights - it is also perfectly clear. The head is off white and nice and foamy and looks like it will stick around for a little while.

When tasting Cocoa Mole, my first reaction was to conjure Keanu Reeves and say "Whoa." There is this impact of wonderful chocolate at first, i mean it tastes exactly like a chocolate bar. Then, in the finish there is this slight burn that I get at the back of my throat that lingers into the aftertaste. I was right, the beer smells infected, but it tastes perfectly good. In the aftertaste, you can defiantly taste the chipotle and ancho chiles doing their work. It's not unpleasant, just enough heat to let you know that they were part of making this beer. Quite a surprising taste, pleasing too.

Mouthfeel on this one is nice, carbonation is right there at a moderate level and the body is right on the boarder of medium/full, leaning more towards medium. All in all this is a great beer! The alcohol is WELL hidden within the mixture of chocolate and chile. Drinkability would seem high because the alcohol isn't present, but the flavor is so potent that I can't imagine anyone wanting to slam these down. Excellent beer. (1,509 characters)

Presently, this is the #1 Chile Beer here on BA by a country mile. As a matter of fact, I don't see any catching up to it for a long time.

Served in a Delirium Tremens snifter.

A: This poured much darker than I was expecting: Imagine the darkest, burnt brown you can imagine without the beer being black. The head started out at about a finger, but then settled into a bunch of mocha colored clumps.

S: Wow.... This is VERY different!: Sort of a cross between spiced pulled pork and cinnamon apples. Have you ever been to IKEA? You know that distinct smell of furniture and Swedish snack bar, right? That is this brew in a nutshell.

T: I still got cinnamon apples, wood, cocoa, and more Mexican weirdness. The aftertaste I got more pine wood than anything. Still, the IKEA comparison is absolutely the perfect one to my mind. Maybe instead of pork (like I got on the nose), the brewer(s) at New Belgium were actually thinking Swedish meatballs. lol

M: I just burped a moment ago and it actually burned my throat. This brew is also spicy in the "hot" sense, which makes it multidimensional to my mind. The lacing was substantial and the cinnamon apple component lingered in a rather divine way.

O: This was one of the most memorable beers I've tasted in the last year or so. No flaws and not a trace of booze detected. I WILL try this beer again in the future... many more times. (1,384 characters)

Strong aroma has an overtone of cinnamon, plus fruity and cocoa notes and hints of malt and cloves. It pours a dark, warm, slightly hazy brown with a decent light tan head that leaves some good lacing. Flavor has a malty core and cinnamon, earthy, chocolate and - whoa! - hot spice notes. Smooth texture is a little creamy and fairly fizzy with needle-like stabs from the hot pepper and a powdery hint. A distinctive and unique brew that is most worthy if you like variety in your beers! (487 characters)

A- Dark brown with a two finger off-white head. When it is held up to the light it is a deep ruby red.

S- Cinnamon! Cocoa, peppers, spices. Well balanced, reminds be of a sweet breakfast and a spicy dinner.

T- Follows that nose, again well balanced, nice heat from the peppers in the finish, 9% ABV is not noticeable at all.

M- Medium body, smooth, creamy.

O- This is a great beer that I find easy to drink, but I could see how the pepper heat could be a turn-off for some. I would compare this to something like a chocolate covered jalapeno, but not as hot. This has a great kick from the peppers but the taste is not driven by the peppers. Definitely will stock up on this. (725 characters)

22 oz bottle poured into a New Belgium globe.9% ABV, Bottled on 12/21/2011

A - Nearing the bordering of blackness, Cocoa Molé is a deep Spanish oak in color that's topped, briefly, by a light khaki head. Thin, wispy lace decorates the glass.

S - Immediately unique, Cocoa Molé offers a menagerie of spices blended together very nicely. I can only pick out cinnamon from the mass. Dry cocoa compliments as dense caramel malt backs it all up. A swirl brings out hints of warming alcohol and spicy chilies. Hints of molasses peek out following a swirl.

T - Deep and complex, Cocoa Molé starts with inviting milk chocolate and caramel malt flavors that slowly shift to a dry cocoa and one-of-a-kind spice blend driven by cinnamon. The icing on the cake is the lingering chipotle pepper heat on the finish that balances the unique flavor of this beer without flaw.

M - Cocoa Molé has a tempting velvet smooth and soft opening that effortlessly and seamlessly transforms to a dry, spicy heat. At first I wanted a little more spice heat to it, then quickly changed my tune, reassuring myself the balance of this beer is perfect.

O - New Belgium has created one of the most unique and memorable beers I've had in quite a while. Cocoa Molé captures the essence of "chili beer" almost perfectly. There isn't much, if anything at all, I'd change about this beer. From it's adorable sugar skulls through the completely hidden alcohol punch and sneaky spice heat to the smooth, supple chocolaty body, Cocoa Molé is a dangerously drinkable beer capable of incapacitating the burliest of men. (1,589 characters)

This is one crazy interesting beer. It's the second chile beer I've tried, but by far the superior one.

It's a clear, dark (almost opaque) maple color with a cola-flavored head that quickly dissipates, probably due to the high ABV. It smells like cinnamon and bittersweet chocolate – kind of like Mexican hot chocolate if you've had it. It's very appealing.

The taste is complex and surprisingly drinkable. At the very front it's sweet, with the chocolate malts hitting right away. But as the beer sits in your mouth, you get more and more heat from the chipotle peppers.

This beer may very well ruin whatever meal you're eating it with, but it's an odd delicacy on its own. Sweet, spicy and smooth enough that you'll forget it's 9% ABV. (744 characters)

Hit first w/ chocolate taste up front (though less in comparison to the smell) - some herbal and roasty flavors layer in their as well. Fruity alcohol ending, with a small lingering spiciness that heats up. Great taste, some what sweet but balanced with heat.

A bit slick, perfect amount of carbonation, plays well off spices.

Quite enjoyable - esp as a after dinner valentines treat. Wouldn't drink it every day. Unique, better than other spiced beers that I've had. (768 characters)

Appearance: Pours out a clear, amber-brown body with a medium-small, ivory-hued head.

Smell: Aromatic cinnamon powder is fairly large in the nose, but it is not entirely dominating the other notes smelling of semi-sweet chocolate, sugar encrusted bread, vanilla bean, and deseeded peppers.

Taste: Plenty of ground cinnamon scattered over caramel and chocolate maltiness with a fair degree of sweet. Pinch of vanilla sugar. Slightly roasty but there's also a sugary bready quality present. Follows through with an earthy, very slight vegetal taste from the chiles with the heat slowly accumulating across the tongue aided by the alcohol. Sweetish, cinnamon-laced, slightly spicy finish.

Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied. Medium carbonation.

Overall: Cocoa Mole is fairly good for a chile beer which can, if particularly one-note-ish (or even vaguely reminiscent of the nightmare-inducing Cave Creek Chili Beer), have a very limited appeal for me. So, again, good job, NB. (1,058 characters)